Lost Time
by americasings
Summary: Allura held her brother close for the last time three quintants before her father shoved her into a cryopod.
1. Chapter 1

Allura held her brother close for the last time three quintants before her father shoved her into a cryopod. Lance was so small, then, his dark brown hair flecked with silver like their mother's and scales that glowed a darker blue than their father's, and it broke Allura's heart to know that he would be sent away. The little Altean had followed her relentlessly ever since the war began, with his favorite nanny being their father's most trusted advisor and their mother died in the very beginning of the war. She couldn't help but squeeze him a little tighter, smoothing his hair down as he yawned, fighting to keep his eyes open. Clutched in his arms was the stuffed Kranmürell, its traditional green fur a bright blue, with tufts of pink instead of white for the collar, the toy's button eyes staring at her accusingly as she rocked the boy. "It's alright, Lance, we'll be together again soon, I promise," Allura cooed. Lance only held to her and his toy tighter.

"I wanna stay with you," he whined. "Don't make me go, 'Lura!"

"I want you to stay, too, but it's very dangerous right now. Can't you go for me? Search for juniberries while we're apart, and bring me some when you come back. And I'll find all the sparkly things I can for you."

"Mm… Okay. Can I sleep with you?" Lance's voice began to slur, his deep blue eyes fluttering ceaselessly as he tried to stay up.

"Of course you can," was all she had time to say before he was fast asleep in her arms.

There was nothing, she mused, more disheartening than watching her sweet, energetic brother so still. True to their father's wishes, he was put into stasis the next morning, with only his stuffed Kranmürell to keep him company. Lance was still, peaceful as his pod was loaded into the smaller ship. Allura wanted to be like Alfor, who watched with a forlorn gaze despite his otherwise relaxed face, but nothing could stop the rivulets of tears streaming down her face when they watched her brother leave them- her heart told her that it would be so very long before they were reunited.

After that, life seemed duller. Father let her listen to the strategies as Voltron's Paladins worked to find a way to take Zarkon and his army from power, let her sit in the holodeck and watch the simulated wind sway the simulated juniberries, let her train with the paladins. On the third quintant, Zarkon attacked, and for the first time, Allura celebrated the absence of her brother. The great booms and trembling walls of the castle would have terrified and endangered him.

"Allura, your father wants to see you," Coran relayed, snapping her attention away from the sounds of battle.

"Where is he?"

"The podroom, with Trigal."

"Trigal? What happened? I can't imagine that Voltron can be formed without her."

"Which is why she is in the podroom, princess, now come."

Trigal was not in the podroom. In fact, the Green Paladin's voice drifted through the comms just moments later, right before King Alfor shoved Allura into a waiting pod. "Father, please! I have to be here for Lan-" the young princess screamed, only to be frozen mid-protest.

 _I'm going to miss Lance's homecoming,_ was the first, frantic thought in her head as she froze.


	2. Chapter 2

When Lance woke up, it was because of the cold. He longed for his sister, who never failed to let him cuddle with her until he felt warm again, but then he remembered the sleek pod that Papa made him get into before he fell asleep. Already he missed his sister.

"Andrea, look! There's a kid over there!" A voice sounded from somewhere behind him. Scared, he hugged Müssa closer to his chest. These must be the ones his papa told him to watch for, who would care for him while he was away. Lance regarded the figures as they approached, frowning at their appearances. One of them had long, dark hair, braided into twin tails, and dark skin just like his, though her eyes were a dark brown. The other was just a slight little thing, with pale skin and fair hair, thick glasses resting on the bridge of her nose.

"Hey there, little guy," the one with fair hair greeted gently, waving her arm. "I'm Annie. What's your name?"

"Lance," he responded. "I'm a prince."

"I'm sure you are, sweetheart. Can you tell me where your parents are?"

"I don't know. My Papa told me that he can't take care of me until after the war." Both women exchanged a look, frowning, before the darker skinned one held out her hand.

"Alright, Lance, why don't you come with us? We can look after you until your papa comes to get you." She waited patiently for Lance to reach for her before she surged forward to pick him up, sitting him on her hip. "I'm Ezmeralda, but you can call me Da-da for now, okay?"

"Okay. Can we go eat? I'm hungry."

"What do you eat?" Annie chirped, leaning in close to Lance's face. "Are you human?"

"What's a human?"

"Andrea, let him alone. We can talk after you get some food, Lance."

Annie and Da-da spent a lot of time with Lance after that. If they weren't at Work, they were Home, which meant that Lance was showered in affection and taught how to look and act just like a human child. Da-da explained to him that humans were the strongest species on the planet, but they were still very afraid of things they didn't understand, so it was important to hide his ears and the scales on his cheekbones from sight. Sometimes, Da-da would speak in a strange language, but it wasn't long until Lance picked it up as well.

After a few months, he stopped referring to them as Annie and Da-da, calling them Mom and Mama, instead. At the end of his sixth period- _year,_ that was what humans called them- he thought he was acting just like a human child.

When he was eight, he asked Mom why he had such a weird-looking stuffed bear. She told him that he and Müssa had been inseparable for as long as she'd known him. Lance laughed, because his mom had known him all his life—right?

Most nights, if the weather allowed it, Lance would sit outside and watch the stars with Mama. She would point to them and ask if he'd been there before, smiling like she knew something he didn't. Every night, he'd give her the same weird look, asking himself why his mama was so stuck on the dreams he told them about as a child- he was a prince from space sent away to hide on Earth during some sort of intergalactic war. Maybe it was because she knew, even back then, that there was something about the night sky that called to him. He hated to say it, or think it, really, but as much as he loved his mothers and as happy as he was in his house with his new baby sister, it never felt like home.

At eleven, Lance met a boy who said he was from Samoa. The boy was shy, and almost didn't talk to Lance, but Lance prided himself on persistence. Hunk, he soon found, was the very best friend a person could find. They'd spend hours making plans- Lance piloting a ship that Hunk built, but _in space_ \- and sharing secrets. Hunk told him about the small, flimsy rabbit toy that never left his pocket, and Lance shyly admitted to Müssa being his very best friend. Something about the creature always made him sad, he confessed one afternoon during their after-school snack.

At fifteen, Lance started to dream again. Colors melted into shapes towering over him that became people, until he was small again, playing games with a beautiful young woman with dark skin and shocking white hair. Unlike his mothers, she had long, pointed ears and pale pink markings under her eyes. She held him sometimes, telling him stories of a legendary warrior, promising that soon they would be home for the Juniberry Festival. " _Search for juniberries while we're apart, and give them to me when you come back,_ " she told him. He woke up the next morning to his younger siblings asking why he was crying.

" _Lance, you mustn't get in the way of the paladins. They have to be able to get in their Lions quickly, okay?"_

" _But, 'Lura, Blue wanted to talk to me. She says I can fly with her someday!" Allura smiled at him, her scales glowing faintly._

" _I'm sure you will, my little warrior, but right now you have to train with Müssa so Blue can help defend us."_

At sixteen, he wanted to scream—so close to going into space, only to be shut out of the program because of _one_ student. How was he to know if the princess in his dream was real, now?

On his seventeenth birthday—Mom called it the day they 'found' him—he got the news that he _would_ be put in the fighter pilot class, meaning he could go to space. Excitement like he'd never felt before bubbled in his chest, and before he knew what he was doing, he'd made dark blue swirls appear on his upper arms, ones that glowed as brightly as he'd felt.

He didn't tell his parents.


	3. Chapter 3

"Lance, not that I don't trust you, I totally do, but do we really have to sneak out?" Hunk questioned for what felt like the millionth time. He was fidgeting nervously, watching Lance tuck Allura into his backpack with an unbelievable amount of care.

"Yes, Hunk, c'mon! You heard Iverson, we need to work as a team, so let's all bond. You and me grab Pidge and hit the town all weekend, they won't miss us as long as we're back by roll call Monday."

"But, what if-"

"Hunk. We came to the Garrison for adventure, didn't we? We came to make our lives about exploring and knowledge, don't we deserve just a little bit of time off? And that new restaurant you were excited about is the first stop on our list!" Lance smiled as the statement seemed to cheer Hunk up. "Grab enough clothes for tomorrow and Sunday, okay?"

"Okay."

As they exited their dorm, Hunk in his favorite yellow shirt and Lance wearing an old jacket that Mom had given him. It was easy to get past the security system and to Pidge's single dorm- Lance was jealous of him at first, but Hunk was the best roommate, so it hardly bothered him anymore.

They had just gotten to Pidge's hallway when they saw the guy sneaking out! Hunk tried to call out for him, but something about the secretive way he walked made Lance want to snoop. "Shh," he murmured, tiptoeing forward. Hunk gave him another look of incredulity, but the pilot ignored it.

Pidge walked slowly, carefully, to the staircase that led to the roof of the building- Lance knew that because he snuck up there often to watch the stars- and stole up there, his bulky backpack weighing on him so much that he seemed to lean backwards. It was comical, almost, so Lance made them stop and watch as Pidge snuck up the stairs and onto the roof. They waited about five minutes before sneaking up after him. Hunk went first, glancing back every so often at Lance.

"This is a bad idea," Hunk whined.

"Keep going," Lance ordered in reply. Hunk continued to grumble. "Tsuyoshi! Just go up the stairs so we can bond with our friend and be a better team!"

"I'm going!" The grumbling quieted, and they continued in silence.

Pidge was sitting, surrounded by equipment, with huge headphones sitting on his head. Lance snuck up behind him. "So!" He started, grinning when Pidge jumped. Hunk's worry was forgotten at the sight of the homemade equipment. "Trying to pick up next week's exam answers?"

"No, Lance, some of us are actually smart."

"Hey, I'm smart! I just… have trouble with words."

"What are you guys- _hands off my equipment_ \- what are you even doing here?"

"Looking for you. Pack your cryptids, pigeon, we're going on an adventure."

"Uh, no. I'm busy."

"Doing what? Listening to Iverson whine about the best pilot of his teaching career getting kicked out and leaving him with me?" Pidge looked at him with a pout before sighing.

"No. You're not actually terrible, Iverson's just a dick. Hunk, _stop touching my equipment_!"

"Aww, Pidgey, you actually like me! You small bean, I knew-"

"Lance, shut up. Anyway, I've been listening in on radio waves and picking up alien chatter."

"Shit, Mothman's real."

"Lance! Seriously! They're talking about something, some kind of weapon I think, Voltron, and they want it found."

"Pidge, don't be ridiculous." Lance glanced up at the stars. For a second, he thought he saw something. An enormous, multi-colored robot, separating into five pieces and bursting away. _Find me_ , one piece urged. "There aren't any lions in space."

"No one said anything about lions, dumbass. I'm talking about Vol-" Pidge's response was interrupted by a shuddering boom and a flash of white light, followed by the school's siren wailing. Hunk looked over at Lance warily, and Lance grinned manically in return. "-tron… What the hell?"

"That's an adventure right there. Screw the town, let's go check it out!"

"Lance, I don't think that-"

"Let's do it." Hunk groaned.

"Pidge, not you too!"


	4. Chapter 4

Lance thought they fit together, Hunk and Pidge. Hunk was big and noticeable, but also soft and comforting, where Pidge was small and relatively easy to overlook, but his personality made him seem too big for the world. Lance hoped that they would be closer, after this. These people were people he wanted to be connected to.

Despite Pidge's earlier commands, he was letting Hunk carry the bag with his carefully packed, dismantled equipment. It wasn't hard to clear the grounds and make their way towards the area that Hunk guessed whatever that light was fell.

"Maybe it's a star," Lance mused. He knew it wouldn't be. "Maybe we'll get super powers and become heroes. Do you think-"

"That you talk too much? Only all the time, yeah."

"Wow, who fed you after midnight?"

"The same person who let you become a pilot."

"Your words hurt me." Pidge snickered beside him at that. "Seriously! I'll never recover. You'll have to make sure I stay alive while I wallow in shame."

"Drama queen."

"I'm a prince, thank you very much. Queen is too much responsibility."  
"Props for honesty," Hunk mused from behind them. "You'd crash and burn as a queen."

"Hunk, I know I said I wanted you to always tell me the truth, but come on now, I wouldn't be _that_ bad."

"Literally the only thing you've never destroyed is that bear."

"What bear?" Pidge interrupted curiously.

"The bear that is going to be my second-in-command when I take over the universe, now shush before they hear us!"

Lance paused on the ridge, staring down at the hastily constructed bubble that people wearing HAZMAT suits entered. Hunk barely had time to stop without knocking him off, so it was probably best that Pidge was in the rear, stopping only when the immovable wall of Hunk was in his way.

"Hey, Pidgeot, do you think you can computer-magic your way in there? See what's going on?"

"Computers aren't magic, they're science, but yes, I can." The shortest in their trio sat down beside a large rock, its shadow nearly obscuring him. Hunk crouched next, peering over the boulder to see as much as he could. Lance searched the landscape around them for anything to give him some sort of information as to what they were spying on, exactly.

"Pidge?" he prompted after a few minutes of quiet.

"There's someone on a table. I can't really-"

" _No, please! My name is Takashi Shirogane, I was on the Kerberos Mission, please! My crew and I were abducted- listen to me!"_

Pidge's fingers froze on his keyboard. His eyes behind those large, thick glasses were wide, and his mouth hung open just so. "It's Shiro," he murmured.

"Shiro? As in the pilot? I thought they were dea-" Hunk began. Lance silenced him by slapping a hand over his mouth and giving a meaningful glance towards Pidge.

"It's Shiro! That means they're alive, all of them, and they're keeping it secret!"

"That's not-"  
"Lance, you want to bond, yeah? Help me get Shiro out of there. We'll create a distraction, while they're busy we go in and grab him."

"I'm all for adventure, but how do you suggest we-" Lance flinched as a line of enormous explosions appeared from the far side of the encampment. "-what was that?"

" _That_ was a distraction! For him!" He pointed towards a rock formation closer to the entrance than they were, bringing a small figure to his attention. The air around the stranger was pale red, reminding him of-

"Keith!" He gasped, launching himself over Hunk, ignoring his best friend's gasp of surprise. He held tighter to the straps of his backpack as he did so.

"Are you sure?" Hunk called after him, and it occurred to Lance that _normal_ people couldn't see what he could see, the soft colors, so he replied with the first thing that came to mind.

"I'd recognize that mullet anywhere!"  
"Who's Keith?!" Lance heard Pidge shriek, but he wasn't listening. He couldn't let Keith one-up him again, not when he'd been forced to deal with the fact that he was only in the fighter class because Keith dropped out.

Inside the weird, makeshift base, Keith had already fought through what guards remained and even those weird men in coats- the sight of them made Lance shudder. Keith hadn't noticed the trio yet, instead inspecting the face of the man on the table, who wasn't wearing the typical Garrison uniform for space mission, but a series of deep purple rags. The sight of them brought to mind the nightmares he'd had featuring that very color, but seeing the man strapped to the table like some sort of experiment brought Lance to the very simple solution that he couldn't care less about that color until he'd at least helped.

"Nope! Nuh-uh, no, no no no no, _I'm_ saving Shiro," he snapped at Keith, helping the boy lift Shiro from the table and towards the door.

"Um… Who are you?" Keith had the nerve to ask.

"The name's _Lance_? We were in the same class at the Garrison."

"Oh, were you an…. Engineer?" The gall of this boy astounded Lance to no end, apparently.

"Wha- no? I'm a pilot. Fighter class now, thanks to you washing out!" Keith looked at him blankly for a moment before clearing his throat.

"Well, congratulations."

"Well, not that this isn't heartwarming, but you've got a semi-dead guy in your arms and those officers are gonna be back, like, any minute now," Hunk whined, gesturing to the exit with a large swoop of his hand.

"Yeah, seriously, we need to go," Pidge agreed, turning on his heel and stalking down the hall. Hunk followed, adjusting Pidge's backpack as he walked. Lance huffed, but followed them wordlessly, trying to ignore the fact that Keith's presence made him as angry as it did.

Progress was relatively quick, once they'd gotten to Keith's hoverbike. While it wasn't designed to carry so many passengers, it was still fast, and as much as Lance hated to admit it, Keith was a skilled pilot. It may have taken driving straight off a cliff, but he lost their pursuers and got the entire little gang to a small shack in the middle of nowhere. By the time they'd gotten there, though, everyone was exhausted- except Shiro, who was still unconscious- so Keith gave them each a thin blanket before disappearing into a back room.


	5. Chapter 5

Lance woke up feeling more tired than he had when they all laid down. Hunk was still asleep, with Pidge curled against his side, leaving Lance alone beside them, which he was grateful for- Hunk always worried. Lance rubbed the sleep from his eyes and hugged his weird bear closer to his chest before getting up.

Keith's shack was small, but admittedly quaint. Books and papers were cluttered over every available surface, along with a few containers that looked like they used to hold frozen dinners. On the table near the other side of the room, there was an open jar of peanut butter with a spoon sticking out of it. The chair nearby was empty, but two figures could be seen from the window near the front door. Lance decided not to worry about it.

"Okay, so, on top of being a washout, he's also a conspiracy theorist!" Lance chirped, scrutinizing the large board and its dozens of papers, strings, and colors.

"What have you been _doing_ while I was gone?" Shiro murmured. Keith gave them both a flat look before turning to look at the board.

"After getting booted from the Garrison, I was kinda… lost, I guess, for a while. But it felt like something, this- this _energy_ , was calling me out here, telling me to look for something."

"Look for what?"

"I didn't know at the time. But it led me here," he paused for a second, pressing his fingers to the middle of the board. "And I found all these ancient cave-markings. Each tells a slightly different story about a blue lion, but they all share clues about some event, some _arrival_ happening last night. Then you showed up."

Shiro nodded, taking a deep breath before he spoke next. "I should thank you all for helping me escape. Lance, was it?" Lance only hesitated slightly, remembering that flickering terror at the sight of Shiro's purple rags and feeling it swell just slightly when his hand touched the older man's robotic arm.

"Yeah," he answered confidently. Shiro smiled at him and turned to Hunk, who just stared.

"I'm Pidge," Pidge interjected, slapping a hand to Hunk's arm gently. "The nervous guy's Hunk. So, did anyone else from your crew survive?"

"I don't know. Whatever they did to me, I can't…. I don't know what happened to myself, much less them." Shiro's voice grew thick as he spoke, but Lance was more focused on the way Pidge's face went from hopeful to crushed.

Hunk saved the moment from going silent when he picked Pidge's bag off of the floor. "So, I was going through Pidge's bag last night and, pff, look at his girlfriend," he began. Pidge shrieked and snatched the picture away.

"What were you doing in my bag?!"

"Looking for a candy bar. Anyway, I _also_ read his diary-"

"Hunk!"

"-and it looks like a series of coordinates, and when I mapped them, they look kinda like a Fraunhofer Line." He held up a sheet of paper that Lance honestly thought looked like a poorly-drawn mountain landscape. Keith hummed thoughtfully.

"Let me see that. What's a Fraunhofer Line?"

"Oh, it's like a line that tells you how to find elements, but get this, the element this one is mapping, doesn't exist on Earth. I could probably build a machine to track it real quick, it's really fascinating."

"Hunk, you beautiful genius," Lance praised with a grin, pulling his backpack's straps over his shoulders while Pidge did the same with his own.

"This is where I found those markings," Keith murmured as Hunk and Pidge led the way into a cave. The two geniuses were examining the machine Hunk had built as well as the markings further into the cave while Shiro and Keith hovered close to the mouth. Lance ignored them all as he stepped closer to the markings. Something about them made him think of the fantastical dreams he used to have…

"Ah!" Lance gasped when the carvings began to glow. He jerked his fingers away, giving the stone a betrayed look.

"They've… never done that before," Keith's voice stated unhelpfully.

"They're everywhere!" Hunk breathed. It was all he had time to note before the very ground beneath them crumbled, dragging all five of them into a cavern below.

It was unbearably loud- Lance let out a short, quiet scream when the floor disappeared from under him, but the tunnel they fell into made that sound echo, right along with Pidge's and Hunk's unending screeches, Shiro's coarse yelp, and Keith's monotonous, almost mocking yell.

When they landed in a small pond, Lance was relieved- the cavern they'd ended up in was so large that all the loud screaming carried off until their little group was in silence. The faint blue glow of the cavern relaxed him as he stood, dusting off his jeans and helping Pidge to his feet.

"Where are we?" Pidge wondered aloud. "What d'you guys think that light is? Keith?"

"I dunno. I told you, they've never done that before. But don't you feel it?"

"Feel what?" Hunk groaned. "The bruises from the fall? Yes, yes, I feel those."

Keith may have said something in return, but Lance tuned out. Something behind his stomach was tugging him towards that glow, urging him to go around the large rock formation blocking whatever was giving off such a familiar light, a familiar warmth.

 _Closer, closer, come closer, hurry, found me, find them-_

"Lance!" Hunk's voice startled him away from the thoughts that weren't his. "Are you okay?"

"Uh… yeah, fine."

"Look!" Pidge shouted, having already scampered away from them and towards the glow. "Is this it? Is this the Voltron?"

"This is what's been causing all this crazy energy," Keith muttered reverently a moment later. Hunk, Lance, and Shiro made their way to the two standing in awe. An enormous, robotic blue lion was sitting in the center of a large forcefield, its golden eyes staring straight ahead. When Lance moved into its peripheral vision, though, he immediately got the sense that it was watching him.

"Does anyone else get the feeling this is staring at them?" He suggested as they approached. Shiro snorted.

"No."

"Yeah, the eyes are totally following me." They came to a stop a few feet away from the forcefield, eyeing it excitedly. Keith was the first to touch it, smoothing his hand over the unmoving surface.

"I wonder how we get in," he stated quietly. Lance huffed at his silhouette.

"Maybe you just have to knock." To emphasize his point, he rapped twice on the field and tried to look nonchalant when faint blue wisps clung to his hand, glittering at him before fading into nothing, taking the forcefield with it. The giant lion moved, standing on all fours and leaning its front closer to the ground, and let out a mighty roar. The sound made something Lance hadn't known was out of place settle, pulling his mind into an oddly familiar place. Colors flashed before his eyes, enormous robotic lions in perfect sync, fluidly pressing closer and closer until their forms combined into a gargantuan robot.

"You guys saw that, right?" Lance asked as the vision faded, dumbstruck.

"Voltron is a robot! A giant, awesome robot! And this thing is only, only one part of it!" Pidge cheered, his small body practically vibrating with excitement. The lion's body moved again, lowering its head to the cave-floor and opening its enormous maw.

"Wait," Shiro told Lance when he took a step towards the entrance. Lance pretended not to hear him and scurried in anyway.

The inside of the lion was a mash of whites, blues, and silver. Symbols littered various surfaces and containers, some of them merely stating what each object was and others detailing how to use their contents. Lance strolled confidently through the beast's halls and led the rest of his group into what appeared to be the cockpit, located in the head. "I feel like I should just point out, for those of us having trouble processing, that we're in some sort of… ancient futuristic space cat head," Lance stated calmly, seating himself in the pilot's chair.

"Yes, thank you, Lance, where would we be without your amazing powers of deduction," Hunk murmured at around the same time Pidge made an affirmative noise.

"Someone needs a nap."  
"Oh, what a great idea, let me just teleport back to the Garrison, where I'm pretty sure we're in huge trouble for sneaking out and stealing an entire person."

"Most of a person, I'm missing like, an arm," Shiro mumbled.

"Not the time, Shiro," Keith scolded. Lance rolled his eyes at the other teen's antics and watched the screens in front of him come to life. The noise of the rest of them faded away as a deep, soothing purr vibrated into his mind.

 _Take us home,_ it told him.

"Let me see…"

"Lance, don't press anything ple-" Hunk's voice quickly shifted into a terrified screech as the lion lurched forward, destroying the cave walls and bringing them into the open air.

"What the hell are you _doing_?" Pidge wailed, his small hands clinging to the pilot's chair so tightly that Lance was fairly surprised to see that nothing was broken yet.

"Nothing, I'm pretty sure she's on auto-pilot. I don't think she wants us out, though, so we should be fine."

"Stop doing that!" Keith growled from behind the pilot's chair.

"I just _told_ you, it's on auto-pilot! She's doing this all on her own!" Lance glanced behind him, checking for any glaring signs that his friends, hero, or rival had been hurt, and upon seeing nothing, he pressed on. The desertscape shrank and spun as Blue familiarized herself with her regained freedom. Hunk, Pidge, and Shiro were all making noises of varying volume, each sounding sick, while Keith's iron grip on the back of his chair only tightened until they'd suddenly rocketed out of the atmosphere.

"Lance! Lance!" Pidge screamed, clawing his way from the chair to Lance's jacket. "Get us back on the planet!"

"No, get us away from those!" Shiro shouted, his voice wavering as he pointed his mechanical arm towards a distant fleet of menacing purple ships. Something in Lance's gut turned to stone, but he ignored it in favor of steering the lion away.

"I thought you said this was on auto-pilot?" Keith interjected as they all pitched to the side.

"Key word, was!"

"It's shooting at us!" Hunk whined, using one arm to pull Pidge around his side, blocking the smallest from viewing the ships behind them. "Lance, get us out of here!"

"Why are you asking him to save us, he can't even pass the simulator!"

"The simulator doesn't threaten my friends, Pidge! Now hold on to something!" Lance gave them all a split-second to grab tightly to his chair- or, in Pidge's case, Hunk- before slamming his hands onto the controls. The lion roared, a ray of electric blue energy coming from somewhere on the ship and freezing half the ships closest to them. Distantly, he could hear his friends, hero, and rival screaming, but all he could focus on was the fact that he had to save them.

 _Open it, hurry, go through it get home reform save-_

Suddenly, a bright light flashed in front of them, bathing them all in a beckoning light. "It wants us to go through that, that wormhole!" he explained to the other passengers before flying straight towards it.

"No no no no-" Keith wailed, voice barely audible over Pidge's screech. Lance ignored them both and pushed the lion towards the escape, only for their ship to come out somewhere completely new, flying straight into an atmosphere of the closest planet.

"Where did you take us, Lance?" Shiro demanded, his voice hard. Lance hummed, watching the planet below them slowly take shape. The large, sleek white castle jutting out of a mountain peak seemed more familiar to him than his house back on Earth.

"I think… I think she's taking us home."


	6. Chapter 6

_Allura played with Lance's still baby-soft hair, brushing it away from the tiny silver circlet that Father had given him just that day. Lance chattered away beside her, taking the stems of juniberry leaves and showing her how to tie them into a crown. "Where did you learn this, Lance?" she asked him._

" _The Black Paladin!" her baby brother boasted._

" _Zarkon?"_

" _Yeah! He was playing with me when you and Papa were in that big meeting with that other queen lady."_

" _And… you got him to make you a juniberry flower crown?" Lance nodded again, falling quiet as he focused on the crown. They sat together quietly for a moment before he spoke again._

" _Why did you send me away, 'Lura?"_

" _What do you mean? You're right here with me, Lance." The ring of flowers in his hands wilted before he looked up._

" _You let Papa put me in that pod, and now we'll never be together again! Did you even look for my sparkly things? I got you so many juniberries."_

" _Lance, I-"_

"How do we get them out?" A strange voice asked.

" _I thought you loved me, 'Lura, why did you send me away?"_

"I think we should just…"

" _I do love you! I- I'll ask Father to cancel your trip right now. Father? Fa-"_

"Father," Allura breathed, stumbling out of the pod and into the arms of a stranger. They held her steady as she regained her footing, for which she was grateful. "Who are you? Where- where am I?"

"Um, the name's Lance! And… you're on my arm." The stranger's eyes were the same deep blue she'd just been looking at in the juniberry field.

"Your ears…."

"What's wrong with my ears?"

"They're hideous." Lance spluttered indignantly, dropping his hands from her side.

"Wow, look, lady, I didn't come here in a magic blue space lion for you to insult me! And they're fine, they heard just what you said about them!" Allura glared at the boy for a moment before a thought struck her.

Another pod hissed, but Allura ignored it and stalked through the small group of foreigners. "Good morning, Princess! Good morning-" Coran made a choked sound behind her, and when she looked, he was staring at the tall one as though he were a ghost.

"Coran?" Allura prompted, shaking her father's advisor from the stunned silence.

"Intruders in the castle!" Her father's advisor screeched, jumping into action. His hands were gripping the opening of Lance's coat, face twisted in something like hurt and anger.

"Whoa, whoa, hey, everybody calm down," the one in black demanded, his voice radiating the same kind of authority she had grown to expect from the leaders of other races. "Sir, could you please release Lance, he hasn't done anything but help Miss-uh, Miss Princess?"

"My name is Princess Allura of Altea," Allura corrected, drawing herself to her full height. The man in black nodded his understanding before she continued. "This is my castle, and you've trespassed. We are in the middle of a war, I don't have time to- oh, _Father!_ Coran, where is my father? I need to send for-"

"Princess, we've been asleep for a… a very long time," Coran started cautiously, ignoring the aliens now that he'd been scolded by one.

"Which is precisely why we should hurry!" She whirled to face the aliens. "If you are not of Zarkon's side, you may stay in the castle for the time being. I must locate my fami-"

"Allura, it's been ten thousand periods." She froze instantly at her advisor's words. "There's nothing we can do about him right now. Please, let's just, deal with these- erm, guests- and get something to eat." She nodded to Coran before straightening.

"Zarkon?"  
"He was the king of the Galra long ago, when the war had only just begun."

"I know him. I was his prisoner."

"He can't be alive!" Coran breathed, but Allura nodded. After all, she and Coran had survived.

"Who are you all, and what are you doing in my castle?"

"You're welcome to stay in the castle while we try to get you home," Allura offered as the aliens- _humans_ , she reminded herself- grouped themselves a little closer to each other. "We won't be staying on Arus for very long, though, we must find the new paladins."

"Paladins? So, what, you're just going to hire a couple of creatures to fly giant, rainbow lion warships?" Pidge demanded, giving Allura a look of disapproval. Before the princess could reply, though, the tall one from before- they called him by her brother's name, but she couldn't quite bring herself to call him that- spoke up.

"No, you can't hire a paladin. The lions have to choose them. Like how Blue let down that barrier in the cavern."

"But how does a ship decide something like that?" The yellow one, Hunk, questioned, frowning thoughtfully.

"They aren't just ships. They're just, like… Okay, you know those myths about the gods and how they control and look after certain elements? The lions are like, the closest thing to a physical form that those things have, and when they come together, they're merging all the elements that form most life on the planets through the universe. Right, uh, Princess?"

Allura was speechless at the human boy's explanation, but nodded quickly. Coran made a thoughtful sound beside her.

"You're a clever one, aren't you," he praised, and the boy smiled sheepishly.

"Not really, it just makes sense to me." He shrugged noncommittally. "My mama says I pick up on things quickly."

"Okay, back to the point here! If the lions have to choose their paladins, then that means you already have the blue one, it's one of us."

"I'm sorry, but the Blue Lion has already chosen its paladin, before we were, erm, brought here."

"Yeah, after _someone_ got us stuck on the other side of a _wormhole_." Keith sneered, shooting that boy an angry glare.

"I'll stick _you_ in a wormhole!"

"You already did! And now we're in an alien castle light years away from our home planet!"

"Well maybe some of us can't stay on Earth forever! I have questions that need answers and I sure as _hell_ won't find them at home!"  
"Stow it, cadets," Shiro snapped, sending both boys into a haughty silence. "No one likes this situation, but we're here now, and we need to stay calm. Princess, thank you for letting us stay, but Keith is right. One of us has already been chosen for the Blue Paladin." Allura frowned and looked to Lance, sizing him up thoughtfully.

"Do you have any idea who it might have chosen?"  
"Oh, uh, probably Lance, uh, Your Highness-er, Princess- ma'am," Hunk piped up. "He could talk to the lion, and none of us could."

"You could speak with the lion?" Allura breathed. Lance nodded. "How long have you been with it?"

"Uh, let's see, today is Friday, sometime, so…. Like twenty minutes?"

"What is a 'minute'?" Lance frowned and looked somewhere behind her.

"About forty ticks," he answered after a moment. Coran shot her an odd look before nodding to Lance again, but Allura ignored it before standing.

"Well, then, I suppose I should explain the Lions to you. Come, this way."

Getting the humans to follow her proved to be a task. The biggest of them, Hunk, often stopped to pull Lance towards him, mumbling something she couldn't make out, and the smallest of them seemed to be almost entirely asleep on their feet. The other two were silent and stoic, which she couldn't say she preferred, but they got their fellows to listen, so Allura tried not to mind.

Bringing up the star maps and locating the other lions was laughably easy. All the times she had struggled to conjure an image of Altea while her father and the other Paladins worked to end the war, and it was nothing more than a thought to her now.

"The Black Lion was hidden here, within the castle, but the only way to free it is to have the rest of the Pride in our possession. Its paladin needs to be one with unshakable morals and a strong will, as it forms the head of Voltron. The Green Lion, which forms one of Voltron's arms, is here-" she pointed to their left, showing a small, holographic lion, "-and requires a paladin with a strong mind. Pidge, I think you would do well to pilot her."

"Me? I mean, I've always _wanted_ to be a pilot, but am I qualified? What does it take to pilot a lion?" Pidge interrupted, appraising the small picture as it floated towards them.

"That is for you and your Lion to find out. The Yellow Lion calls for a paladin with a big heart and steadfast courage, who has the heart and drive to keep the rest of the team as steady and grounded as they can be, as it forms one of Voltron's legs. Hunk, you will pilot the Yellow Lion." Hunk frowned and scratched at his temple over the headband he wore.  
"I don't know if I should…"

"The Blue Lion-" Allura paused as Lance chimed in.

"Let me guess, takes the bravest, most handsome paladin of them all?" He didn't seem deterred when Allura scoffed and turned away.

"The _Red_ Lion's paladin relies on instinct as well as talent, and must truly burn with the desire to do right by their team. Keith, you will pilot the Red Lion."

"It'd be an honor, Princess."

"Ugh, _Keith_ , that's dumb."

"That is enough! Pidge, you and Shiro take a pod and try to locate the Green Lion. Coran will help you program its current coordinates. Lance, you take Hunk in the Blue Lion to retrieve Yellow. Keith, I'm afraid I can't locate the Red Lion right now, so you will have to stay here."

"But I wanna go with Shiro." Keith gestured to the older man with a pout.

"Keith, I missed you too, but you need to stay here in case she locates your lion. I'll be back with Pidge soon, and then we can, uh, form Voltron and go home, I guess." Allura watched Keith scowl, his expression reminding her of her own when she'd discovered that her brother would be sent away for the duration of the war. The others in their group seemed oblivious to him, though, as the shortest followed Coran purposefully and the legs of Voltron started in the direction of the entrance. By the time Keith had accepted the absence of Shiro, the other four aliens were long gone, and he simply sat quietly with Allura and Coran.

"It's unfortunate to have had to meet you under such dire circumstances," Allura started softly, inspecting the holomap. "I'm sure we all would have been more agreeable if there was no war going on."

"You, uh, you must have lost a lot."

"It took two periods for the war to become what it is, and three more for me to lose most of my family. This castle, these Lions, are all I have." She turned to look at Keith, whose face easily displayed discomfort at her admission. "Which is why it is so important for Zarkon to be defeated. I can't let anyone else feel the pain of losing their livelihood."

"And this Voltron can help with that?"

"Yes, yes it can." Allura smiled at the simulated stars as she looked, her eyes glazing. "I only regret that my little brother couldn't be here. In our time, he was chosen by the Blue Lion herself to be a paladin."

"What- what happened to your brother?" Keith's voice shook slightly, a guarded worry in his eyes that hadn't been there before. Allura's smile dropped.

"War, Keith."


	7. Chapter 7

Lance could feel Hunk's stare burning into the back of his head as he urged the Blue Lion forward. The beast purred her reply to him, soothing some of his worries, even as the vast endlessness of the unknown universe stretched before him.

"So!" Hunk exclaimed when he deemed them far enough away from the castle and the aliens and the almost-strangers. "What are the odds that we would meet a space princess with the same name as your creepy alien bear!"

"I hope you aren't _actually_ asking me, Hunk, this is just a little too much for me to be doing math with, right now."

"Lance, this is too much to do anything with right now! We're in a giant robot cat head, going to get another giant robot cat, so some princess we just met can make us into soldiers for a timeless war!"

"I dunno, Hunk, it feels… personal, almost. We can't just let this girl down. Did you see her face when she came out of that pod? She looked so scared when she saw us. And now she's all alone with Coran." Lance frowned. "She's got this war thrown on her, the least I- the least _we_ can do is help out. Who knows, maybe she's wrong. Maybe it won't be all humans piloting the lions."

"Speaking of lions, Lance, how did you know?" Calmer now, Hunk shifted forward until he was beside his friend. "Back at the Garrison. You knew what Voltron was, you knew about the lions. You even call your bear Allura."

"I… I don't know, Hunk. I just thought I saw them in the sky, for a second. Is Allura a popular name? Maybe I heard it somewhere and just liked it."

"I can assure you, it is not a popular name."

"Maybe I heard it in a dream, then. Mama said that my bear used to be named something else, anyways, I just don't remember what it was. I called it 'Allura' when my moms found these little letters I wrote to some imaginary person." Lance frowned thoughtfully, his head straining to reach for the memory, growing frustrated when he came up short. Hunk's hand fell lightly on his shoulder after a moment.

"Hey, buddy, it's okay. Maybe you're psychic. Oh! If you're psychic you better not have known about it because I am your _best friend_ , or, I think I am, and keeping a huge secret like that is not cool, man!" The statement made Lance snicker.

"Hunk, of course you're my best friend! I promise, if I knew anything special about me, you'd be the first to know. I'm not psychic." Hunk opened his mouth, as if to argue, but his attention strayed to the view in front of them and he abruptly shrieked.

"What the hell is that!"

Outside, there were dozens of dark purple ships moving towards a sandy brown planet- or at least, they had been before catching sight of the Blue Lion. Instinctively, Lance jerked the controls toward himself, swerving to avoid the first few shots aimed at them. Hunk yelped once more, his hands gripping the back of the pilot's chair for dear life, as Lance touched control after control, shooting what looked to be bright blue energy at their attackers as they entered the planet's orbit.

"I was hoping this would be a peaceful planet!" The larger boy wailed.

"Those aren't from the planet! They're- ah!" Lance rolled the entire ship to avoid colliding with one of their faster attackers, then willed the lion towards the planet's surface. Both teens screamed as he did, terrified and untested for situations like the one they'd been forced into.

"I don't want to die here!" Hunk wailed, and Lance glared at the ships surrounding them.

"You're not going to die, Hunk! There's an opening down there, see? I'm gonna drop you in and keep these guys off your tail while you go find your lion," he declared, rolling his shoulders. Hunk immediately launched into an argument, but whatever he was going to say was abruptly ended as an enemy ship managed to land a hit on the Blue Lion's backside, jolting her passengers forward.

"Sorry, buddy, no choice!" Lance exclaimed before sending Hunk out. His friend rolled a few times on impact, but immediately stood to run into the mouth of the cave. Blue's cool presence in the back of his head growled excitedly as Hunk disappeared from sight. Oddly comforted, Lance forced himself to put aside his worry for his friend and turned all of his attention to the enemy ships still attacking his lion.

When Hunk and the Yellow Lion tore out of the planet's rocky exterior and spared Lance and the Blue Lion from certain death, the teen almost fainted. "Lance? You okay there?" Hunk's voice crackled through the comms.

"See, told ya! You didn't die." Hunk's response was merely an amused huff, but the sound comforted Lance. "Thanks for saving me."

"Well, at first I was just trying to get away, but what this thing lacks in speed, it makes up for in armor. It can take a beating!"

"Let's hope it doesn't have to! For now, let's just get back ho- to the castle."

"Alright. But be more careful, Lance! What would your moms say if you got hurt out here?" Lance whined at the mention of his mothers before straightening.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'd be grounded for like, two years."

"Exactly, and then who would convince me to make bad decisions?"

"No one…"

"So start shooting whatever weapons you got on that thing." Hunk's voice took on a stern tone for a moment, but was soon broken when Lance snickered at him. "C'mon, Lance, let's be serious!" The soft whine of his tone only made Lance outright laugh at him, but the sound of their attackers circling back to them sobered him quickly.

With Hunk in the new Lion, they managed to escape the Galra ships, and from there, it was easy to contact the castle and open a wormhole for their return. They rushed to the control room, where they rejoined Keith and the two strangers, but, as they were almost disappointed to find, they were the last of their party to return. "Never again," Hunk whined. "Please, if there are gods, never again."

"Yeah…. We had a rough time, too," Pidge soothed, shooting a mischievous grin towards Shiro. The oldest grinned at him, making Lance feel like he was missing out on something big. Before he could mention it, though, Coran jumped to grab their attention.

"There's a Galra battleship entering the atmosphere, Princess."

"Ready the ion cannon. We can't let them take the lions." The princess glared at the screens, all but abandoning the rest of them in favor of watching the same kind of ship that had chased them from their own galaxy. It made Lance's skin crawl, but he couldn't very well share his concern, not with a space warship bonded to him.

"Princess, I'm afraid that the ion cannon isn't functioning."

"Then raise the particle barrier!"  
"The particle barrier isn't working, either!" Coran's voice took on a panicked tone, his gloved hands flying across the symbols shown on the screens.

"We have to fight back, there's no way we can let them take the Lions," Allura demanded, her hands finding the two small towers in the center of the room. Immediately, the screens glowed brighter, but all it seemed to do was cause her more frustration, as she growled and tore her fingertips from their place. "They have the Red Lion!"

"I have an idea!" Lance blurted, wishing that he could grab his bag from where it lay beside Pidge's, guarded by Coran. "We can trick them!"

"Trick them," Allura huffed, turning her spiteful glare to Lance.

"Yeah! They know that we have Blue and Yellow, so Hunk and I can get their attention and pretend to give ourselves up, and then the Green Lion can take everyone else on board while they're distracted. We'll keep them busy on us while the rest of you search for the Red Lion." Lance paused to look at Hunk, whose face was ashen but set, before returning his gaze to Allura. Her glare had dropped, leaving a thoughtful expression in its wake, and behind him he could hear Pidge whispering that he thought it was a good plan.

"It's risky," the princess murmured. "But I don't think we have a choice. So you'd better not get captured, boy."

"My _name_ is _Lance_." Encouraged by her apparent agreement, Lance stood straighter, his face hardening slightly.

"Fine, _Lance_."

"See, was that so hard?" His voice was steadier than he thought it would be, which earned him more than one impressed look from the other humans, to his delight.

It had been nerve-wracking, to say the least. Coran and Allura hadn't told them about a tractor beam, and though Hunk had warned that it was a possibility, Sci-Fi films be damned- the hold that it had on them, forcing them to follow, had been enough to send Lance into a panic. Surprisingly, it was Hunk that stayed cool, throwing his Lion bodily into Lance's in order to get them out of the beam's radius. The battle that ensued was almost more intense than what Lance thought he could take- something in him chimed that at least _this_ time, he had a Lion to protect him, at least _this_ time he was capable of fighting back.

Tears sprang to his eyes as he urged Blue on, firing relentlessly on the battleship in front of them. Hunk was making progress, barrelling past shots and beams with an ease that Lance didn't think he possessed, covering for Lance as he struggled to regain some semblance of control. It wasn't until the comm unit crackled to life, notifying him that Keith had found his lion, that he managed to right himself, and by then, it seemed almost too easy for Shiro to board the Black Lion and they were facing their enemies, trying to form Voltron at the insistence of the Princess.

"It's not working!" Pidge stated obviously, his voice full of frustration. "What are we gonna do?"

"Well, it _has_ to work!" Lance snapped back. "If we want to live, this is our only option!"

"Oh, my god, we're going to die. Who's gonna tell my mom? What about my dog, oh, she'll be so sad if I never come home-" Hunk rambled.

"It's been an honor, flying with you boys," Keith shouted over Hunk's panicked babble. Shiro had remained quiet throughout the rest of the team's bickering and last words, but the sound of flesh slapping against metal startled them from their individual thoughts.

"No! I already lost one crew, I won't let that happen again! This sucks, but we're gonna have to trust each other, okay?"

Silence.

"I'm nodding. Is anyone else nodding?" Hunk's voice crackled. Something in his tone brought a grin to Lance's face, so he indulged his friend and agreed.

"Yes, Hunk, we're all nodding." No sooner had he said so, his Lion shuddered, the white-blue lights of the cockpit darkening and glowing more intensely, cool air rushing in to greet him as something in the lion crashed and clanked. Lance shut his eyes, fearing the worst and all but ignoring the presence in his mind, tugging him towards believing this was safe, this was good, and then-

"I'm a leg!" Hunk cheered, relief flooding his voice and coaxing laughs from the rest of the team.

"That's more like it, team!" Shiro praised, and with it, a thrum of almost-pride ran through Lance. After that, it was almost too easy to defeat the battle ship, obliterating its weapons and watching as it exploded, fire and thick clouds of smoke making for a pretty unnerving picture.

The princess had been ecstatic when they'd reentered the castle. "Well done, my paladins!" She shouted, throwing her arms in a wide arc. "I'm so proud!"

"It was an astounding plan, Lance," Coran added, his mustache moving as he smiled. Lance flushed with pride. Beside him, he could hear Pidge and Hunk absolutely falling to pieces over their formation of Voltron, their eyes glittering in the same way Lance knew to associate with sleepless nights and series of experiments.

Keith alone remained quiet, though the air surrounding him seemed to be a brighter hue than before, and pride oozed from his very being as he listened to Shiro, whose lilac aura swirled excitedly.

It wasn't long at all before Princess Allura was once again wearing a stiff mask, her voice leaving no room for argument as she demanded they all get some rest. "Coran and I will show you where you'll be staying," she decided for them. "We'll wake you in the morning for your first day of training. I'll make true paladins of you yet."


	8. Chapter 8

Hunk's room was empty when Lance checked in on him that morning, as well as Keith's and Pidge's. He hadn't checked Shiro's room, mostly because he didn't know where the man's room actually _was_. They were probably already awake, so he simply decided to head down to the bridge and familiarize himself with his new teammates, but only after stopping for a quick drink in the kitchens.

They were all gathered on the bridge, Hunk wearing bright yellow pajamas and missing his headband, Pidge and Keith wearing the outfits they'd had from Earth, and Shiro in his paladin's armor. "Good morning, everyone," he greeted casually, though the looks on everyone's faces told him he'd missed something.

"How _thoughtful_ of you to join us," the Princess hissed at him, her glare positively venomous. " _You're_ late, and the only one in uniform is Shiro!"

"Princess, if I may," Shiro replied to Allura's rage. "These are all teenagers. I understand your urgency, but they're stranded in space with relative strangers, I don't think this aggressive tactic is going to work." He smiled sheepishly, but Allura's face remained stoic. If Lance thought she'd had excellent posture before, she was statuesque now, her pale eyes flashing dangerously.

"Of course," Allura corrected saccharinely. "What could I possibly know about being an adolescent thrown into an intergalactic war alongside people I've never met. How _foolish_ of me to believe any one of you could take this seriously!"

"None of us asked for this!" Keith growled at the princess, stepping into her path to Shiro.

"Y-yeah, if we blame anyone, blame me," Lance piped up. "I'm sorry I slept in, my headphones are noise-cancelling. It won't happen again."

"See to it that it doesn't," Allura hissed at him before addressing them all, her tone abruptly formal. "I will be on the bridge, testing our systems. Coran, if you would take them to the training deck?"

"Of course, Princess," her advisor immediately replied, bowing his head. "Try not to stress yourself too much, eh?"

"Alright, paladins, welcome to the training deck. I'll be keeping an eye on you during the more physical aspects of training up here, in the observation room," Coran said diplomatically. Keith scoffed, and for some reason, it made Lance bristle. The man was just doing his job, how dare Nightmare McEdgeLord disrespect him like that?

It reminded him of that first day at the Garrison- Hunk had been positively ill with nerves until he'd seen that his roommate was to be Lance. Contrarily, Lance was positively floating. Space, he was going to go to space, it was so close he could taste it, and he didn't hesitate to tell anyone who greeted him. He'd smiled so widely his cheeks hurt, and then-

"-protect your teammates or there won't be anyone there to protect you!" Coran was finishing.

As punishment for distracting everyone, Lance was first in the invisible maze. Unable to see his enemy killed him, especially with Keith's voice ringing in his ears, flat and commanding. He had no right, _no right_ , Lance was the _prince_ -

 _No,_ he corrected silently. _Those are just dreams. You aren't special._

"I said go right, Lance, damn," Keith snapped. Lance growled to himself, whirling a little too quickly and losing balance. His shoulder slammed into an invisible force while his foot jerked into another solid mass opposite him.

"Fuck _off_ , Kogane!" He shouted, throwing himself bodily to the ground. "I'm sick of your shit!"

"Lance, this isn't the time for you to be a-"

"I wouldn't finish that sentence, Keith," Pidge growled lowly. Their outburst seemed to startle Keith into silence, which was when Coran finally piped up.

"Why don't we… Try to bond mentally, now," he suggested. "I'll get the headbands."

"Yeah, sounds good," Hunk said decisively. "C'mon, Pidge, let's get Lance out of the maze."

"I'll turn it off. Lance, don't move if you want to keep from getting shocked again."

It took his clever friend just a few moments to deconstruct the maze and free him, and once he could move easily, Lance all but threw himself between Pidge and Hunk, refusing to look at Shiro or Keith.

"Now, this exercise is simple. I want you to let your minds wander, and then I want you to send it away. Focus every shred of energy you can into becoming your Lion." The other four nodded, so Lance did as well. He watched as Pidge's mind flickered between that picture of their girlfriend that Hunk had shown off and the silhouette of the Green Lion. Keith was envisioning that shack he'd squirreled them all away in, and its surrounding landscape, while Hunk's mind was overwhelmed by the memory of his two dogs back home, running around and just basking in his presence. Shiro's mind wandered to a dark, glowing purple control room. He could almost hear pleas for help, but then- then Lance saw him.

Zarkon's appearance hadn't changed, save for his eyes. The once-warm obsidian and gold was replaced by a sickly white-purple. Just the sight of it sent Lance back to the memories of his dreams, the ones that ended with him in a cold sweat, shaking and teary-eyed as he desperately tried to comfort himself in the way he longed for that older sibling he didn't have to do. He was vaguely aware of his own screen flickering, the picture of his family back on Earth replaced by an almost still dream-memory of an elaborate room.

 _Lance heard himself whine, wordlessly trying to convey how much he wanted to run into Mama's arms. Instead, he was dutifully obeying, hidden between the canopy and the large pillows on her bed. "Honerva," he heard Mama plead. "Diabazaal is going to die if we don't close the rift, be reasonable!"_

" _No, Marmora! You're just afraid of the progress I've made!" Lance knew that shrill voice, but he couldn't place it. He peeked between the gap in the canopy and saw a woman, her hair almost white and blood-red face scales painting a terrifying picture. Her eyes were wild, aimed directly at Mama. She raised her bony, clawed hand-_

" _Honerva, no!" Mama screamed, but it was in vain. A flash of white-purple light preceded a loud bang, and Mama crumpled. The woman lifted her hood, covering her face effectively._

" _Lance, focus on your lion," the woman said, but her voice was different- comforting. "Hunk, something's wrong with him, what's all this stuff on the screen?"_

He was vaguely aware of someone shaking him, but all he could focus on was the still form of that woman, her long silver-white hair fanned out on the ground. Then there was a loud _slap_ , and he was back.

"Snap out of it!" Keith yelled.

"Fuck," Lance replied plainly. "What happened?"

"One of those weird nightmares you told me about," Hunk offered gently. "It was so… Vivid. No wonder you always woke up crying-"

"I never cry!" The paladins all turned at the choked noise that Coran made. The man had a gloved hand over his mouth, his own eyes looking glassy.

"You're alive," he said, just barely audible. Shiro was up in an instant, apologizing.

"I'm sure it was just an accident, Coran, we all get nightmares sometimes," he said. Coran looked to him before clearing his throat, putting on a plain smile.

"Of course, number One," he assured. "Why don't we all take a short break? I'll fill the Princess in on your progress, and you can all rehydrate."

"I'm sure we can keep going-" Shiro argued. Pidge whined.

"Shiro, I'm tired," they complained, leaning on Hunk. Shiro sighed when Lance followed Pidge's example, but waved his hand flippantly.

"Fine, we'll break for lunch, but then it's right back to training," he conceded. Lance watched the other paladins relax at that, following Shiro out the training deck like ducklings. Coran was giving him an odd look, but absconded before he could ask if everything was alright or apologize- it _was_ the second exercise he'd ruined.

"I saw a lot of spectacular individual performances out there," Coran praised as the paladins found their seats. "You're still struggling to work as a team, though." Shiro let out a choked, fearful sound, followed immediately after by the feeling of smooth metal gliding over his wrists- they were suddenly cuffed together.

"Coran, I want you to think about what you're doing," Hunk said lowly.

"You're going to work _together_ ," Princess Allura said firmly, taking a seat across the table. Her face was hard, mouth set in an angry line, and just the sight of it made Lance conflicted and more than a little off-kilter. "You need to at least do _that_. Or are humans incapable of that, too?"

"Could you cut us a break? Everyone's been working really hard, today," Shiro replied, just short of patient.

"Yeah, we're not some prisoners for you to play with, like- like-" Keith snapped as he shot out of his chair. He stumbled as he searched for the right words, faltering.

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!"

"Yes! Thank you! Lance!" Warm red waves rolled off the shorter boy, turning purple where it touched the blurred blue fuzz around Lance himself.

"You do _not_ yell at the Princess!" Coran snapped. The cheerful man was not made for that tone, Lance decided.

"Oh, the princess of _what_!" Pidge hissed, fists slamming into the table. "We're the only ones out here, and she's no _princess_ of ours!"

The glob of neon goo hitting Pidge's face really shouldn't have been a surprise, but it silenced the entire table. Then, in the sudden silence, Keith went rigid, the only sound being his bowl scratching against the table. "Go loose, Pidge!" He said, launching his bowl.

What followed was absolute chaos, but it was amazing, loosening the ache in his chest that training had caused. His left arm moved fluidly with Keith's right, just as easily as his right moved with Hunk's left. Laughter echoed through the room, and it felt _right_ \- Coran's face was bubbly and focused, and Allura looked-

She was positively glowing as she shot food at them, cackling even when chunks were caught in her hair. She really did look like the princess of his dreams-  
"Stop!" she shouted finally, giving everyone a moment to breathe. "Can't you see what you're doing!"  
"Uh…" Hunk said smartly.

"You're finally working together!" She clarified happily, clapping her hands together. "Good work, my paladins!"

"Yeah, okay, I'm done, bye," Pidge said when Coran removed their cuffs. "It's bedtime for warriors under five-two."

"Goddamn midget," Lance mumbled.

"Language!" Shiro scolded, making Pidge smirk.

"Yeah, Lance, what the fuck."

"Look, you stale-ass meme, Hunk-a-burnin'-love needs to get some food, so how about you fight me," Lance snarked. Allura frowned, opening her mouth to scold them, but was stopped when both the green and blue paladins started to laugh, bumping fists.

"Are they always like that?" Keith mumbled to Hunk, who nodded as he smiled at the two.

"Pidge picks on the people they care about, it's how they show affection, and Lance just loves to encourage everyone," he explained.

"Princess, I swear to you, it was your mother," Coran whispered urgently. "And all our systems say that we only _lost contact_ with your brother's pod. I think this is him."

"Coran, please, I can't get my hopes up," Allura said thickly, holding a small, worn blanket to herself. "We lost Mama, and now Lance and Papa- I don't think I can take another heartbreak." She sniffed, relenting too easily when Coran pulled her into a hug.

"I know, my dear," he soothed. "But I can't explain how some creature from _Earth_ could know your mother's name or what your parents' chamber looked like, not ten _thousand_ periods after the fact."

"But he doesn't look like an Altean!"

"Allura," Coran deadpanned, giving her a flat look. "We can shift forms. Just… Just think about it, alright? Now come with me, I need to show you something."

"What is it?" Allura asked as Coran led her through the castle halls. When they arrived at the holo-deck, she pouted. "I've seen the holo-deck before!"

"Oh, hush, child, go inside."

"Well, the sight of Altea would be nice," she mused, obliging her advisor. "But I don't see how this will hel-"

"Allura," she heard, the voice bringing tears to her eyes. "My only daughter."

" _Father._ "


	9. Chapter 9

Allura couldn't breathe, for a moment. Her father's form was right there, perfectly preserved in the castles memory and staring right at her. "You're finally awake, my dear," he greeted. Allura couldn't help but stare at the man, even as he started to look worried. "Allura? What's wrong?" Alfor reached out for her, pulling on her forearms like he wanted to hug her.

" _Father_ ," Allura finally hissed, jerking away from her father's holographic memory. "How are you- Coran?"

"I set it up before I followed you into the cryopods, princess," Coran explained gently. "Your father asked me to help him place his memory into the castle. It isn't much, but I'm afraid this is all of your father I can give you. He told me he'd update the castle's file on him before he left us." Coran's gentle arm wrapped around her shoulders, and Allura found she preferred Coran to her father in that moment.

"Okay. May I- I'd like to speak to my father alone, if it's alright." She smiled at Coran weakly, and despite the obvious concern in his eyes, Coran nodded, and the hiss of the door sliding shut was all that told her she was alone with her father's memory. Again, Alfor stepped forward, and in another world, another time, ten thousand periods ago, Allura would have thrown herself into his arms and cried, too happy to see him again to question him, but that was before he ordered her brother sent away and her frozen in sleep. She stepped back, away from him.

"Allura, darling, why do you avoid me? Didn't you miss me?" He asked, looking genuinely confused. Allura shook her head.

"How could I have missed you, Father? You put me to sleep!" Alfor's smile faltered, his snowy white eyebrows furrowing.

"Now, Allura, you _know_ I was trying to protect you and your brother-"

"My brother!" Allura could hear her voice crack as she confronted her father. "My brother is _dead_ and his body lost to the great unknown!"

"Allura, if anything, your brother will have found Oriande-"

"No, Father! He hasn't found _Oriande_ , he hasn't found anything! He was five periods old, and you took him away from me! He was everything we had left of Mama, of _home_." Allura threw her arms into the air, hoping to distract the hologram from the tears gathering in her eyes. Her father at least had the sense to look hurt. "How could you put me to sleep here, in the castle, and send him away! I checked the logs while my new paladins were training, Papa, did you? He never made it out of the pod, he's probably floating out there somewhere because your _best friend_ destroyed the so-called haven you found for him! You left me all alone!"

There was silence on the holodeck as Allura finally let herself cry, the fight gone from her- she didn't protest when Alfor gathered her into his arms, instead clinging to the not-quite-there suit her father wore. Vaguely, she could feel a hand in her hair, gently smoothing the stark white curls. Alfor shushed her sobs, a heavy frown on his face.

"I can't give you anything but an apology, Allura," he began softly. "You have every right to be angry with me, really. I thought that it was a better idea to send him away from the warfront, he deserved some semblance of a happy childhood."

"He didn't want to leave." The princess interrupted. Alfor just gave her a nod.

"And I didn't want him to go, but I couldn't knowingly keep him here when every day without casualties in our castle was a gift. Any day, it could have been you, or Lance, and I had already lost your mother. Do you understand?" Allura nodded. "Good. I know it isn't much comfort, but you do have Coran, and me as well, for as long as the holodeck is functional."

"I suppose that's true," Allura hummed in agreement. The intense onslaught of emotion that she'd been trying to work through since emerging from the cryopod had eased, and at least for now, she could think clearly. "You're right. I have my advisor, and the mice, and- and the paladins."

"Paladins? Tell me about them." Allura brightened as she started to describe her warriors, painting a vivid picture.

"It's only been a few days, and I know that they're just children, but… they have the eyes of warriors. Hunk, he's just like Gyrgan, but twice as clever! During training, yesterday, he crushed one of the drones with his bare hands! And Keith, he's so _angry_ , but I saw him playing with the mice. He made them little tunnels, it was adorable!" She gushed, her demeanor brightening as she chattered about each paladin. "Pidge is Trigel reborn, I swear, but now she's small and infinitely more frightening. I found her crawling out of the vent in the kitchen last night, it was terrifying. And Shiro- he's the oldest- I don't know much about him, but he's very serious about his duty. I wish he'd open up a little more, to let the others in. He's almost like Zarkon was, with you. Before the accident and then the war."

"They sound marvelous, Allura. But that's only four paladins, what about Blue's?" Alfor scratched his chin. "It must have been difficult to find her paladin, Blaytz said she had her heart set on Lance."

"A-actually, Papa, that's the thing. The paladin for the blue Lion had already been chosen when I woke up. And his name is Lance, too. He looks… so much like _our_ Lance, it's terrible. If he had scales and our ears, I swear he'd look just like him as a grown-up!" Allura finally admitted. Alfor nodded sagely, giving her a gentle smile.

"Love, it's only natural to see those things. The universe works in strange ways, perhaps this is its way of giving you a new family." He advised. Allura gave him a nod, and the conversation drifted to stories of all the adventures Alfor had led the remaining paladins of old on once the war began. When she woke the next morning, it was to the sound of the paladin's confused yells and the castle's warning system.

The yelling that she heard turned out to be her paladins, naturally, but contrary to her original train of thought, they weren't being attacked. Hunk and Pidge sat mildly at the dining table, spooning goo into their mouths as they watched the holoscreen at the head of the table. Shiro was across from Hunk, sipping a steaming cup of- of _something_ , his eyes half-mast and glazed as he stared at nothing. Keith and Lance, however, were both awake and alert, arguing loudly from either side of the screen.

"He has a weapon!" Keith shouted in frustration. "We can't just let that go because you think he's _cute_!"

"Dude, he's adorable! If his species even has gender! They? Yeah, they. They're _cute_ and _tiny_ and I'm going to knit them a sweater so you can just _deal with it_!" Lance retorted, looking every bit a furious warrior. Mildly, Allura wondered if her brother would have been as passionate about something so… silly.  
"First thing's first, Lance, we have to go out there and actually see if he's hostile or not," Shiro interrupted, patting Lance's shoulder with his mechanical arm. "Maybe there's more of them nearby, and we can knit them _all_ sweaters." When both paladins looked mollified, Shiro stood and walked towards the princess. "Allura, would you like to come with us? I'm sure you could help us settle this as diplomatically as possible."

"I-" Allura started. She hesitated, looking at the man's offered hand as if it held the answers to all the questions she'd had since waking. "Alright. I'm sure this will be a wonderful exercise in practicing diplomacy, for all of us."

If Allura had known that meeting the Arusian people would lead to such a loud and, honestly, _weird_ end. The Arusian village was more than grateful to accept Allura's forgiveness for their imagined slights on the Lion Goddess, and Lance hadn't been exaggerating their cuteness, which led to the almost-unanimous decision to host a party for them. Only Shiro seemed to be against it, claiming that it was risky from a _strategic_ point of view, that they were leaving themselves vulnerable if and when someone or something attacked, but Coran assured him that with all five paladins in armor and the castle's defenses almost completely restored, they would be fine with such a party.

The Arusians were delightful company, downing nunvill like it was water. From afar, Allura could see everyone having a good time- Lance and Keith were taking turns drinking from their cups and making disgusted faces at each other, Hunk was balancing hors d'oeuvres over his eyes and making the guests as well as his fellow paladins laugh, and Pidge was sneaking snacks into her backpack. She'd looked for Shiro, but after she'd tried to entice him into dancing with her, he'd claimed to want to do a perimeter check and hadn't returned.


End file.
